I am specifically looking for your suggestions of up to, say, five magical girl shows that are either very good or, if not so good, serve as a good example of their own little piece of the genre.

What would be most helpful are suggestions for shows that can be viewed legally online, or can be acquired fairly inexpensively on DVD. Thus while I of course know about Sailor Moon, actually finding a way to acquire would be difficult (plus, well, I really don't like dubs, especially bowdlerized dubs, and if I understand correctly there wasn't a legal subbed version distributed. I also know there's a new Sailor Moon happening), so stuff like that might be worth mentioning as information, but it's not all that useful as a recommendation right here right now.

What I've already seen and liked that are clearly magical girls shows:

Shugo CharaMadoka Magica

I have quite possibly seen some other less memorable examples, but I can't remember them well enough to list.

If you want a fairly complete list of every anime I've seen, along with how I've liked them based on ratings, that list is at:

Please, please don't reply with a list of more than five suggestions. I sometimes see people respond to recommendation requests with what seems to be a list of every single title they can think of that might somehow fit. Maybe some people like that, since it gives them a reference to continue to go back to. But I'm looking for something more "curated" and frankly if you give me a list of 20 or more things, I'm not even going to know where to start and will likely ignore that list.

recommend me something dark, along the lines of Electromagnetic Girlfriend , ef a tales of melodies, Aoi Bungaku Series, or kara no kyoukai if you've watched some of these you'll know what I'm looking for.

recommend me something dark, along the lines of Electromagnetic Girlfriend , ef a tales of melodies, Aoi Bungaku Series, or kara no kyoukai if you've watched some of these you'll know what I'm looking for.

I've seen those and I DON'T know what you're talking about. lol

denpa teki na kanojo highly recommended for what you're looking for if you have not seen it highly, maybe you have enough happiness points

recommend me something dark, along the lines of Electromagnetic Girlfriend , ef a tales of melodies, Aoi Bungaku Series, or kara no kyoukai if you've watched some of these you'll know what I'm looking for.

I've seen those and I DON'T know what you're talking about. lol

Cossette no Shouzou

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu

Hitsuji no Uta

animes w/ any signs of Schizophrenia (mindbreak)

electromagnetic girlfriend is the english translation for denpa teki or at least I think so

recommend me something dark, along the lines of Electromagnetic Girlfriend , ef a tales of melodies, Aoi Bungaku Series, or kara no kyoukai if you've watched some of these you'll know what I'm looking for.

I've seen those and I DON'T know what you're talking about. lol

Cossette no Shouzou

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu

Hitsuji no Uta

animes w/ any signs of Schizophrenia (mindbreak)

electromagnetic girlfriend is the english translation for denpa teki or at least I think so

I am specifically looking for your suggestions of up to, say, five magical girl shows that are either very good or, if not so good, serve as a good example of their own little piece of the genre.

Hello...

Have you seen Cardcaptor Sakura?

It's a CLAMP product [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=5765]. I think it's a very good magical girl show. A tad childish at times, it does deal with some fairly adult themes now and then. It might be a bit tough to find new, but there are used DVDs for sale on Amazon.com. Such as Volume 1:

I would highly recommend staying away from the English dub. I'm not a Dub hater, but it really is a terrible English adaptation.

That's only one, but it's my favorite. Hope it helps. Cheers.

Thank you! I have heard of Cardcaptor Sakura, probably knew at one time that it was magical girl and CLAMP, but I guess I forgot that. I was also pretty sure I'd put it on my "want to watch" list, but I just checked, and it wasn't there.

I've quite liked the other CLAMP anime I've seen (Chobits, and especially Angelic Layer; found Kobato watchable but not compelling), so this definitely seems like something worth pursuing. Thank you for the recommendation against dub. I'll see what I can track down.

Thank you. Turns that one is already on my want to watch list, but I'd completely forgotten that and had also forgotten it was magical girl, though I'm sure when I heard of it I must have know that. Do you think I'll regret it if I take the lazy way and watch it dubbed on Hulu? (they don't seem to have a subbed version).

Thank you. Turns that one is already on my want to watch list, but I'd completely forgotten that and had also forgotten it was magical girl, though I'm sure when I heard of it I must have know that. Do you think I'll regret it if I take the lazy way and watch it dubbed on Hulu? (they don't seem to have a subbed version).

Thanks for curbing your encyclopedic list instinct

that depends the whole story for princess tutu is supported by great classical compositions as such you just need to know the dialogue (what is going on) to fully enjoy the series

The dancing alone is enough to make it good. should mention having a ballet background helps.

So I would say if you're nitpicky about subs vs dubs than it might be worth while to find a subbed source other than that go for the dubs.

Can anyone tell me if the ending to kotoura-San was any good? Been wanting to check it out but I hate getting into a show only for the ending to leave me in dissapointment.

It didn't blow me away like the beginning of the series did, but it was satisfactory. There isn't really anything more I want out of the series after watching the whole thing, other than to watch it again later.

od1968wrote:
Can anyone tell me if the ending to kotoura-San was any good? Been wanting to check it out but I hate getting into a show only for the ending to leave me in dissapointment.

Balzackwrote:
It didn't blow me away like the beginning of the series did, but it was satisfactory. There isn't really anything more I want out of the series after watching the whole thing, other than to watch it again later.

I agree with both Balzack and AnimeKami. I enjoyed watching it, and the ending wasn't exactly disappointing, but it did start better than it ended. You're unlikely end up with a "OMG that was so wonderful" feeling when it ends, but since it's just 12 or 13 episodes (I forget, and I'm too lazy to look up), I think it's worth spending time on, if you're happy to settle for moderate enjoyment.

This show, both seasons, kind of flew under the radar, but I found the entire run quite enjoyable. I really liked the ending of Season 2. I wouldn't call the script the strongest I've seen (some plot holes), but it was fine. I believe it's based on a video game. It's not as intense or comedic as Blue Exorcist, which I enjoyed as well.